Former French president Sarkozy sentenced to 5 years in jail in Libya trial

PARIS – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in jail on Sept 25 after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy over efforts by close aides to procure funds for his 2007 presidential bid from Libya during the rule of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Sarkozy was acquitted by a Paris court of all other charges, including corruption and receiving illegal campaign financing.

But the ruling means the former president will spend time in jail even if he appeals against a sentence that’s much harsher than many expected.

Sarkozy, who has always denied the charges, was accused of making a deal with Gaddafi in 2005, when he was France’s interior minister, to obtain campaign financing in exchange for supporting the then-isolated Libyan government on the international stage.

Prosecutors had requested a seven-year jail sentence for Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012.

The 70-year-old has been on trial since January, in a case he said was politically motivated.

Investigators alleged he made a corrupt pact with the Libyan government.

At issue was a murky affair alleged to involve Libyan spies, a convicted terrorist, arms dealers and allegations that Gaddafi provided Sarkozy’s campaign with millions of euros shipped to Paris in suitcases.

The judge said there was no proof that Sarkozy made such a deal with Gaddafi, nor that money that was sent from Libya reached Sarkozy’s campaign coffers, even if the timing was “compatible” and the paths the money went through were “very opaque”.

But she said Sarkozy was guilty of criminal conspiracy for having let close aides get in touch with people in Libya to try to obtain campaign financing.

Among the other accused in this trial are Sarkozy’s former right-hand man Claude Gueant and former interior minister Brice Hortefeux.

The court found Gueant, also a former interior minister, guilty of corruption, among other charges. Hortefeux was found guilty of criminal conspiracy.

Despite lingering legal headaches, and having his Legion of Honour, France’s highest distinction,

stripped in June

, Sarkozy remains an influential figure on the French political stage.

He recently met his former protege, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, and has also lent credibility to the National Rally (RN), led by Ms Marine Le Pen, saying the far-right, anti-immigrant party now forms part of the “republican arc”.

Sarkozy has faced legal battles since leaving office.

In 2024, France’s highest court upheld his conviction for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to

wear an electronic tag

for a year, a first for a former French head of state. The tag has now been removed.

Also in 2024, an appeals court confirmed a separate conviction for illegal campaign financing over his failed re-election bid in 2012. A final ruling from France’s highest court is expected on that case in October. REUTERS